2 Proven Ways to Update Apps on Windows 11 [Winget Upgrade]

In this article, we’ll go over how to update apps on Windows 11 using various techniques. You obtain the latest features and fixes by updating the Windows 11 apps to the latest version.

When you install Windows 11, a lot of apps are preloaded. Some of these apps can be uninstalled, while others cannot. The bulk of these apps are useful and are used frequently. It is critical to keep these apps updated in order to receive the most recent fixes and updates from the developers.

There are tons of third-party apps available on the Microsoft Store. Most of the app developers release frequent updates to these apps, adding new features and resolving existing issues. Hence, it is critical to update apps on Windows 11 to the latest version.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to download and install updates for apps on Windows 11 without the Microsoft Store using the Windows Package Manager (winget) command-line tool.

Ways to Update Apps on Windows 11

You have two options for updating apps on a Windows 11 PC, and they are described below.

1. Use Microsoft Store to install and update the Apps.
2. Use winget upgrade command-line tool to update Windows 11 Apps.

You can use the above methods to update apps on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Configure Automatic Updates for Microsoft Store Apps

Microsoft Store on Windows can automatically install app updates. When the Microsoft Store was first released, there was no option for automatic app updates. With this limitation, the users had to launch the Microsoft Store app on their PC and manually update the apps. The latest version of the Microsoft Store no longer has this restriction, you can now turn on automatic app updates in store.

If you want Microsoft Store apps to automatically update to the latest versions, you can set up automatic updates with the following steps:

• Launch the Microsoft Store on your Windows 11 PC.
• In the top bar, click on your profile pic and from the list of options, select App Settings.

On the App Settings window, the first option “App Updates” lets you configure automatic updates for Microsoft Store Apps. Turning on the option “App updates” will automatically update all the apps installed via Microsoft Store.

Manually Update Apps on Windows 11

You can manually update the apps on Windows 11 to the latest version if you haven’t set them up to do so automatically through the Microsoft Store. The steps to manually update store apps on a Windows 11 computer are as follows:

1. Launch the Microsoft Store App.
2. In the left pane, select Library.
3. Click “Get Updates” to check for the latest updates for Apps.
4. Use the “Update All” option to manually update the Store Apps.

On the Library section of Microsoft Store app, there are few options that are important to know.

• Update All: Updates all the apps to the latest version.
• Get Updates: This option checks for the latest updates for all the apps installed on your Windows 11 PC.

In case you encounter issues with the Microsoft Store, use the following guide to Reset Microsoft Store in Windows 11.

Update Apps on Windows 11 using Winget

The Windows Package Manager (winget) command-line tool allows you to update one or all of your apps on Windows 11 quickly and without using the Microsoft Store.

You can update just one app or all the apps that need updating on your Windows 11 PC by using the winget upgrade command. In this article, I’ll discuss both approaches. If you run the winget upgrade command with no arguments, it will show you all the available updates. This makes it easy to see which apps need to be updated.

Also Read: Enable Dark Mode for Microsoft Paint App in Windows 11

Find Apps that require updates using winget

Before you update the Windows 11 apps, you can use the following steps to find the apps that require update from Microsoft Store using the Winget upgrade command.

• Click Start and search for Command Prompt (or PowerShell).
• Right-click the top result and select the Run as administrator option.
• Run the command “winget upgrade” to get a list of apps that require updates.

Update Single App on Windows 11 using Winget

To update an app on Windows 11 using Winget:

• Launch the command prompt (or PowerShell) as administrator.
• Run the command winget upgrade to find the apps that require updates.
• Run the command winget upgrade -h –id APP-ID to update the app.

Make sure you use the right application ID when you run the command winget upgrade -h –id APP-ID. In the winget upgrade output, the application ID is listed for every app that requires an update.

The below example shows Cloudflare WARP app updated to the latest version using the following command:

winget upgrade -h --id Cloudflare.Warp

Once you finish the steps, the application will update to the latest version from the Windows Package Manager repository.

Update all apps on Windows 11 using Winget

You can update all the apps that require updates at once with the winget command:

• Launch the command prompt (or PowerShell) as administrator.
• Run the command winget upgrade to find the apps that require updates.
• Run the command winget upgrade -h –all to update all apps.

After you complete the above steps, the winget tool will download and install the updates for all the apps installed on Windows 11. If an update for an app doesn’t work, the next app will be chosen and its updates will be installed.